4: I've Paid My Dues (Time After Time)

4. "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" by Queen {#4; 10/77} [Video: We Will Rock You;   We Are the Champions (with the iconic black and white leotard.)]

Boom-boom-clap. Boom-boom-clap.

The beat is iconic and unmistakeable. "We Will Rock You" is one of the most instantly recognizable songs ever. The beat, the clapping, the chorus. Everyone knows "We Will Rock You."

Everyone knows "We Are the Champions," too. Whenever your team wins the championship, a rendition of "We Are the Champions" is sure to follow. (Someday, Vikings. Someday.) (Someday, Jazz. Someday.)

Each song on its own is a powerhouse juggernaut. Together, they are more unstoppable than a juggernaut, if that is even possible.

I've only done karaoke in public once. My family and my brother's family were at a family pizza place in Orem, Utah. My oldest daughter, who was either two or three at the time, wanted to get up on stage and sing. She started off with "Old McDonald" and worked her way through a few other children's songs. With her inspiring us, everyone else eventually got up on stage for a song or two. (Even my father-in-law "delighted" us with a rendition of "16 Tons.")

My brother, John, chose "Piano Man" as his song. It's an excellent song, and it's fun to sing along with. But, one thing we all learned that day is that "Piano Man" is a long song. And when you are up there singing it by yourself, it seems to go on forever.

So, when it came my turn to go onstage to sing a song, I learned from my brother's mistake. I picked a very short song. I picked the exact two minute-long "We Will Rock You." And, to further assuage my possible embarrassment, I brought little Roni onstage with me to help me sing the chorus. (She may have been young, but she already knew the chorus of "We Will Rock You.") I may not have been the best karaoke singer, but I certainly wasn't the worst.

When it came time to make this list, it was a really close call between "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." Both songs were really neck and neck. So, why did I eventually choose "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" to be one notch higher than "Bohemian Rhapsody?" I think a lot of it has to do with when the songs came out. "Bohemian Rhapsody" first hit the charts in January of 1976, when I was still just 9 years old. I was still young enough that I didn't listen to too much radio and I never had control over what music I listened to.

"We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" hit the charts in October of 1977. It may have only been a year and a half later, but there is a big difference between a 9 year old and an 11 year old. By late 1977, I was much more of a radio listener and much more of a fan of popular music. And "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" was such an amazing song that it really ingrained itself into my brain and my psyche. (Although, in the deepest reaches of my memory, KRSP, Rock 103 from Salt Lake City, which for us in Arimo, Idaho was the coolest radio station we could ever find, played the songs in the reverse order. They played "We Are the Champions" first, then followed it with "We Will Rock You." Mind you, this could be my memory playing tricks on me. It wouldn't really make sense, because on the album they are in their traditional order. And yet, that's the way I think I remember it was.)

Anyway, they are two damn fantastic songs, and when you put them together: wow!

COMING UP NEXT: The softer side of Sears.